Friday, March 14, 2014

The original 1973 KISS drum set used by Peter Criss is going up for auction later this month as part of the Rock Gods And Metal Monsters Auction hosted by Backstage Auctions.

Criss premiered the Ludwig kit in December of 1973 and played it all the way through 1974, before it was replaced by a stretch of Pearl kits. In addition to the 24-inch glitter KISS logo bass drum, the kit also contains the snare, various tom-toms, cymbals, cowbell, drum stool and even some of the original road cases.

The online auction – which runs March 30 through April 6 – also includes over 200 lots of rare KISS memorabilia dating back as far as back as 1973.

Among the items is the original Kiss Army jacket given to Peter by Paul Stanley when he and his daughter, Jenilee, made a surprise appearance at the 1995 KISS Convention in Burbank, California. The original Eraldo Carugati painting used for Peter Criss' 1978 solo album is also hitting the block.

"So often we think we have hit the peak of rare Kiss memorabilia and then another collection comes along,” explains Backstage Auctions founder Jacques van Gool, “and collectively the pieces featured in this auction have moved us to a new summit with the private collections of Debra Svensk-Jenson (previously married to Peter Criss), Linda West and the late Ken Anderson, both of Aucoin Management, and rock photographer Chip Rock."

The sale will also include hundreds of rare hard rock and heavy metal memorabilia from the private collections of David Ellefson of Megadeth; Frank Bello, Charlie Benante and Scott Ian of Anthrax; Sean Yseult of White Zombie and more.

The auction falls the week before Criss and the original lineup of KISS will be inducted into the 2014 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame at a ceremony in New York, along with Nirvana, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt.